West Indies Cruise - 28 Feb 2010
Samana, Dominican Republic
We would not be in port until 10 am. So I was up and walking the boat by 7 am looking for birds.
A pair of Phaetheon sp. (Tropicbirds) with long tail streamers were flying out from shore of our destination, but were too distant to determine if they were White-tailed or Red-billed. I also spotted 3 Shearwaters flying low over the water, but again, they were too distant to ID. I could only guess that they might be Audubon’s (the most common of these parts). As we approached shore I spotted another 3 seabirds that I later would ID as Red-footed Boobies (brown phase). It would not be until arrival that I could ID a Brown Pelican flying across the shoreline. A whale-spout was also seen from deck 7, and I even managed to capture it.
I was a bit surprised to see so few birds to this point. Usually these cruises provide some birding opportunities from the ship prior to ports.
We had to tender to shore in order to meet our first tour: Whale-watching! With only a few minutes on the dock all I could see were a pair of Banaquits feeding in the nearby palm trees. Lots of parrot/parakeet-type birds were squawking in the surrounding woods, but I couldn’t see any. We quickly hopped onto our tour boat and headed back out to open waters. In 20 minutes time we came upon six-seven more boats and several surfacing whales.
According to our tour guide Alfredo, each boat gets a chance to maneuver within viewing range of the whales, with the expectation not to crowd the animals. We held back and watched as the Humpback Whales surfaced within feet of several boats, spouted, then slowly dipped below the surface to the delight of onlookers.
I was in the front of our boat and had unobstructed photographing opportunities. As one of the group of 3 whales in our vicinity would surface I’d do my best to focus on it and fire away, hoping to get a fluke shot (literally!). For the most part, though, the whales did not come far out of the water.
When it was our turn to move into position we were greeted with numerous rises close to the boat. It wasn’t until the animals started moving to really deep water did we get the chance to see their tails come out of the water. I was lucky enough to get several series of photos as a whale would spout, roll, then show its fluke (tail) before submerging completely. We’d have to wait for several minutes before they’d resurface. Always someplace away from our boat, but near another.
The best photos came when you could see light blue water just before surfacing. Then, if you were lucky, you could catch a whale in mid-spout, and be treated to an exposed tail.
One passenger next to me actually saw one whale breach (come completely out of the water)! The whale was ½ mile away at the time, so there’d be no photos…
I was too busy to catch it, however, as a pair of Magnificent Frigatebirds (juveniles) fought over a freshly-caught fish. One white-headed juvenile snatched the fish off the surface of the water, and held on as a second bird harassed it into dropping its catch. I was lucky to grab a series of images of the two birds and airborne fish just several feet away from our boat. What a show!
After a few more rises out of our Humpbacked friends we headed full-speed back to our pier.
A pair of Red-footed Boobies were flying by in the distance, but close enough for me to confirm my sighting of similar birds earlier in the day. As we sped back a Brown Booby flew within a few feet of our boat, and I managed to capture it as it soared by. The challenge was to keep focus while the boat bounced, and hopefully keep salt-water spray off the camera and lens.
A few Royal Terns and a Great Blue Heron were near the pier, as well as a small flock of roosting Brown Pelicans. Overhead, a single Red-tailed Hawk soared above us. Otherwise, there were few birds about. Unfortunately for me, this was about the time I realized how sunburned my knees and arms were. For the next two days I’d be unable to walk w/o knee pain. Ouch! But well worth the experience.
Thank you, Alfredo, and the rest of the crew for some great moments!
Samana, Dominican Republic, Samaná, DO
Feb 28, 2010 7:00 AM
Protocol: Incidental
Checklist Comments: Arriving in port and whale-watching tour
9 species (+1 other taxa)
Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus) 3
White-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) 2
shearwater sp. (Procellariidae sp. (shearwater sp.)) 3 Audubon's are most possible for this region, but birds were too far to ID
Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens) 2 pair of juveniles fighting over fresh-caught fish
Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) 3
Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) 1
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) 1
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 1
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1
Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) 2
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S4
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Feb 28, 2010 7:00 AM
Protocol: Incidental
Checklist Comments: Arriving in port and whale-watching tour
9 species (+1 other taxa)
Royal Tern (Thalasseus maximus) 3
White-tailed Tropicbird (Phaethon lepturus) 2
shearwater sp. (Procellariidae sp. (shearwater sp.)) 3 Audubon's are most possible for this region, but birds were too far to ID
Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens) 2 pair of juveniles fighting over fresh-caught fish
Red-footed Booby (Sula sula) 3
Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) 1
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) 1
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 1
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1
Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola) 2
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S4
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
